Nathan Hill

A Novel

Wellness

Liyah 🤎

*4.75* WOW, already one of my faves of the year. This is probably only not a book for everyone, but it was the book for me. Even though its size was intimidating, I tore through it! Read for 3 hours straight on a flight. I loved the non-linear storytelling and rotating perspective, which made the book feel dynamic and cinematic. I enjoyed how real-world psych and tech research was woven into the book. This book was a fascinating look at the post-internet/Information Age pursuit of the American Dream, especially for people whose adulthood began at the precipe of the big change. This book is definitely auspicious in its scope, and that might be off-putting to some. I actually felt like the auspiciousness served the ideas of the book and was executed mostly well. I felt like it did cause a small bit of drag. I did begin to feel a bit fatigued about 3/4ths into the book, and not because the writing quality dipped. There was just sooo much to get through. I also felt like, ultimately, the couple at the center became rather small by the end, unfortunately. I think a slightly more definitive ending with them would've helped stick the landing for me. Either way, the portrait of the shortcomings as a couple and as people was stunningly clear and grounded. They felt very flesh and blood. The book's reflections on social division, class, and the internet were stunning. Several times, I had to stop reading just to think about everything the author was saying. I don't feel like the book did much with the topic of race head-on, but it didn't ignore it either. That might've had more to do with the character's race and the homogeneity of the world they lived in. For a book that's already so full, I hesitate to say it should've been added, but it would have served the book took take a harder look at the ways race is at play in the dynamics the book was interested in. There's definitely a thread that could've been pulled re: white supremacy as a belief system as something like a placebo! I wish I could have read this in a book club to discuss its richness with others. 

In the beginning, I also kinda hated the wife, but in that way, you hate someone who could be the worst version of your own insecurities, an unlovable and unloving controlling perfectionist cynic. I felt she came a long way by the end, but I would have liked to see some of that softness and change in her interactions with her husband rather than being kind of hinted at. The husband wasn't perfect either and had a lot of growing up to do, but I felt more of that growth was documented. I enjoyed the parts of his section that focused on the corporatization of academia, which already had fraught values and culture. Glad I bought this book and will own it for years to come!

Wellness A Novel

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